New Show #14: Free Agents

Free Agents
NBC. Premieres September 14 at 10:30 PM, then it moves to Wednesday nights on September 21 at 8:30.

Starring: Hank Azaria (Heat, Love and Other Drugs, Moe on The Simpsons, and the scientist guy Phoebe almost married on Friends) and Kathryn Hahn (Crossing Jordan, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, and Step Brothers).

Plot: A recently divorced guy and a woman whose fiancé just died work together as public relations executives. They had a one-night stand, but they are trying to keep things platonic and professional at their job. They are perfect for each other, but don’t realize it, and all of their friends are trying to get them to start dating again. This is a remake of a British workplace sitcom.

Why We Are Excited: Strangely, the trailer was sort of cute. It made one of us stop hating Hank Azaria so much, and that’s a lot for four minutes. And we love Kathryn Hahn, who is adorable and usually funny. Also, British workplace comedies have been good in translation before. It’s nice to see a comedy starring two middle-aged people embarking on romance. It might make this more of a mature show. We will give it a chance. It might be funny.

Why We Are Not Excited: Well, we already don’t care. We think it might get cancelled quickly. The last thing we need is another show that’s going to rely on a main romance and then drag it out forever. This might have made a cuter movie. And Hank’s character on Friends (David) was just so pathetic. Hank’s just not that funny anymore (he was funny on The Simpsons). This would have been a great part for, say, pre-Passion Mel Gibson, but he went crazy. (Favorite line from the Mel Gibson tapes: “I’m gonna burn the house down, but you WILL blow me first!”) Without a likeable, charismatic leading man, this show might be DOA.

Preview:


Anticipation Score: 4

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